General wants change in Afghanistan strategy

Monday

Aug 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2009 at 12:59 PM

The Associated Press

KABUL (AP) — The commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan said today in an assessment of the war that a new strategy was needed to fight the Taliban, and NATO officials disclosed he is expected to separately request more troops.

Increasing U.S. forces is a hot-button issue that could ignite furious debate in Washington on the U.S. military’s future in an increasingly unpopular war. Some Democratic senators have increased calls for a timeline to draw down troops.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent his strategic review of the Afghan war to the Pentagon and NATO headquarters today. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the 60-day review to size up the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks rise and U.S. deaths spiral upward.

“The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,” McChrystal said in a statement today.

A NATO statement said McChrystal’s assessment seeks to implement President Barack Obama’s strategy “to reduce the capability and will” of insurgents and extremists, including al-Qaida, and support the growth and development of Afghan security forces and Afghan governance.

McChrystal did not ask for more troops but is expected to do so in a separate request, two NATO officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

The United States already has some 62,000 troops in Afghanistan — a record number — and will have 68,000 by the end of the year. In total there are more than 100,000 U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

The deaths of two U.S. forces today in the south — the country’s most violent region — underscored the spiraling violence those troops face. The deaths brought to 47 the number of U.S. forces killed in Afghanistan in August — the deadliest month of the almost eight-year war for American troops.

Thousands of U.S. forces moved into the Afghan south this summer after Obama ordered 21,000 more troops to the country this year, forces who helped protect the country’s Aug. 20 presidential election. McChrystal, who took over command in Afghanistan on June 15, delayed the release of the review so that it would not interfere with the vote.

New vote tallies released today showed President Hamid Karzai with a strong lead over top challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Karzai had 45.8 percent of votes counted, while Abdullah had 33.2 percent. Ballots have been counted from almost half of the country’s voting stations, meaning results could still change dramatically. Karzai will need 50 percent of the votes to avoid a two-man runoff.

Results are not expected to be finalized until mid- or late September, after officials work through fraud allegations.